Merv

Merv , also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major <a href="/facts/Iranian_peoples/gnzfoI8h">Iranian</a> city in <a href="/facts/Central_Asia/rB8k0CyT">Central Asia</a>, on the historical <a href="/facts/Silk_Road/TLBryY39">Silk Road</a>, near today's <a href="/facts/Mary%2c_Turkmenistan/FArhFc53">Mary, Turkmenistan</a>. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium BC until the 18th century AD. It changed hands repeatedly throughout history. Under the <a href="/facts/Achaemenid_Empire/avlzWxF0">Achaemenid Empire</a>, it was the center of the <a href="/facts/Satrap/kVKpwGXt">satrapy</a> of <a href="/facts/Margiana/FJ6DbIx2">Margiana</a>. It was subsequently ruled by <a href="/facts/Hellenistic_Period/q6BgQsaF">Hellenistic Kings</a>, <a href="/facts/Parthia/XMqSC1GT">Parthians</a>, <a href="/facts/Sasanian_Empire/JvbRevkA">Sasanians</a>, <a href="/facts/Arabs/E77duPsg">Arabs</a>, <a href="/facts/Ghaznavids/SvV50a1J">Ghaznavids</a>, <a href="/facts/Seljuk_Turks/68M4ryan">Seljuqs</a>, <a href="/facts/Khwarazmian_dynasty/TcMkkVhR">Khwarazmians</a> and <a href="/facts/Timurids/J4SwmtSR">Timurids</a>, among others.
Merv was the capital city of several <a href="/facts/Polity/0R8Wr4CL">polities</a> throughout its history. In the beginning of the 9th century, Merv was the seat of the <a href="/facts/Caliph/qQ6hCspe">caliph</a> <a href="/facts/Al-Ma%2527mun/aaHmoQ9g">al-Ma'mun</a> and the capital of the entire <a href="/facts/Abbasid_caliphate/mPeLAbXt">Islamic caliphate</a>. It served later as the seat of the <a href="/facts/Tahirid_dynasty/K5dAYlYB">Tahirid</a> <a href="/facts/Governor/3SmuqT92">governors</a> of <a href="/facts/Greater_Khorasan/YjgsyBbe">Khorasan</a>. In the 11th–12th centuries, Merv was the capital of the <a href="/facts/Great_Seljuk_Empire/PIdMSP62">Great Seljuk Empire</a> and remained so until the latter's ultimate fall. Around this time, Merv turned into a chief centre of <a href="/facts/Islamic_science/ajn0zRSc">Islamic science</a> and <a href="/facts/Islamic_culture/R0lHtcL9">culture</a>, attracting as well as producing renowned poets, musicians, physicians, mathematicians and astronomers. The great Persian <a href="/facts/Polymath/eqIfjQRu">polymath</a> <a href="/facts/Omar_Khayyam/M9ARtmAe">Omar Khayyam</a>, among others, spent a number of years working at the observatory in Merv. As Persian geographer and traveller <a href="/facts/Al-Istakhri/jLVMxkYW">al-Istakhri</a> wrote of Merv: "Of all the countries of <a href="/facts/Greater_Iran/tWa3u3Uv">Iran</a>, these people were noted for their talents and education." <a href="/facts/Arabian_people/E77duPsg">Arab</a> geographer <a href="/facts/Yaqut_al-Hamawi/6C11dTDX">Yaqut al-Hamawi</a> counted as many as 10 giant libraries in Merv, including one within a major mosque that contained 12,000 volumes.
Merv was also a popular place for <a href="/facts/Pilgrimage/e0Gvd7TV">pilgrimage</a>, and several religions considered it holy. In <a href="/facts/Zoroastrianism/rM0QUMtg">Zoroastrianism</a>, Merv (Mouru) was one of 16 perfect lands created by god <a href="/facts/Ahura_Mazda/Ss71bwbb">Ahura Mazda</a>. Between the 5th and 11th centuries, Merv served as the seat of an <a href="/facts/Nestorianism/CbfTthu6">East Syrian</a> <a href="/facts/Merv_(East_Syrian_Ecclesiastical_Province)/vPPzAz6B">metropolitan province</a>. A descendant of the <a href="/facts/Prophets_and_messengers_in_Islam/WPWy6Gdp">Islamic prophet</a> <a href="/facts/Muhammad/5VcA7XrT">Muhammad</a>, 8th Imam of <a href="/facts/Twelver_Shi%2527ism/sUejq9pd">Twelver Shia Islam</a>, <a href="/facts/Ali_ar-Ridha/x9SAEDMy">Ali ar-Ridha</a>, moved to Merv from <a href="/facts/Baghdad/RbtLzzHe">Baghdad</a> and resided there for several years. <a href="/facts/Al-Muqanna/GF5zQ6du">Al-Muqanna</a>, the "Veiled Prophet", who gained many followers by claiming to be an incarnation of God, was born and started his movement in Merv.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, Merv may have been the world's largest city, with a population of up to 500,000. During this period, Merv was known as "Marw al-Shāhijān" (Merv the Great), and frequently referred to as the "capital of the eastern Islamic world". According to geographer <a href="/facts/Yaqut_al-Hamawi/6C11dTDX">Yaqut al-Hamawi</a>, the city and its structures were visible from a <a href="/facts/Day%2527s_journey/BRCH95yf">day's journey</a> away. In 1221, the city opened its gates to an invading <a href="/facts/Mongol_Empire/cfddtfIK">Mongol</a> horde, resulting in <a href="/facts/Destruction_under_the_Mongol_Empire/VfdJbt5z">massive devastation</a>. Historical accounts contend that the entire population (including refugees) were killed; <a href="/facts/Tolui_Khan/7hukrWdz">Tolui Khan</a> is reputed to have slaughtered 700,000 people. Though partly rebuilt after the Mongol destruction, the city never regained its former prosperity. Between 1788 and 1789, the city was razed by <a href="/facts/Shah_Murad/ClDE2ASK">Shah Murad</a> of the <a href="/facts/Emirate_of_Bukhara/3Afet6w4">Emirate of Bukhara</a> for the last time, and its population deported. By the 1800s, under pressure from the Russians, the area surrounding Merv was completely deserted.
Today the site is preserved by the Government of <a href="/facts/Turkmenistan/YqJ4NvjU">Turkmenistan</a> as the State Historical and Cultural Park "Ancient Merv". It was established in 1987 and is regulated by Turkmenistan's legislation. It is the oldest and most perfectly preserved of the oasis cities along the historical Silk Road in Central Asia. A few buildings and structures still stand today, especially those constructed in the last two millennia. <a href="/facts/UNESCO/QSbkRv3o">UNESCO</a> has listed the site of ancient Merv as a <a href="/facts/World_Heritage_Site/6AbWWKV4">World Heritage Site</a>.

Merv open-in-new

Merv